Liquid Nitrogen for Cooling PCs

• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2010-08-15 10:07
  The cat just recently heard of this concept.
  
  Is it expensive or inconvienent as this is not what the average PC user does?
• Yogurticecream wrote on 2010-08-15 10:13
  Heard of the concept before but that was by some hobbyist people trying to break some record or something.
  
  Got this part from wikipedia.
  
  

  Liquid nitrogen
  
  Liquid nitrogen may be used to cool an overclocked PC.As liquid nitrogen evaporates at -196 °C, far below the freezing point of water, it is valuable as an extreme coolant for short overclocking sessions.
  
  In a typical installation of liquid nitrogen cooling, a copper or aluminum pipe is mounted on top of the processor or graphics card. After being heavily insulated against condensation, the liquid nitrogen is poured into the pipe, resulting in temperatures well below -100°C.
  
  By welding an open pipe onto a heat sink, and insulating the pipe, it is possible to cool the processor either with liquid nitrogen, which has a temperature below −196°C, or dry ice. However, after the nitrogen evaporates, it has to be refilled. In the realm of personal computers, this method of cooling is seldom used in contexts other than overclocking trial-runs and record-setting attempts, as the CPU will usually expire within a relatively short period of time due to temperature stress caused by changes in internal temperature.
  
  Although liquid nitrogen is non-flammable, it can condense oxygen directly from air. Mixtures of liquid oxygen and flammable materials can be dangerously explosive.

• Infamy wrote on 2010-08-15 10:21
  It's a hassle that is only useful in an academic sense, for people whose goal is to overclock for the sake of overclocking.
  
  Enthusiasts can reach 4GHz with quad-core CPUs cooled by air. Operating temperatures will probably settle around 60-70 degrees Celsius. To truly push the hardware, however, chip temperature must be taken as low as possible, often below freezing point. This low temperature causes condensation to form on the CPU and the motherboard. If enough water collects on the surface, it will bead and run, causing shorts and destroying equipment.
  
  Interesting read if you want to know more. The 5 GHz, Six-Core Project: Core i7-980X Gets Chilly : Cooling Comes Full Circle
• Osayidan wrote on 2010-08-15 13:16
  It's more efficient to build with no moving parts (SSDs) or have the hard drives external to the main PC. Have the rest with lots of heatsinks (no fans) and submerge it in liquids good for cooling (obviously that don't conduct).
  
  One concept is to use certain types of oil, because hot oil rises to the top while the cooler oil sinks down, you can then have a cooling device at the top of the oil container so the surface oil gets cooled. With this you never have to worry about dust, and the cooling is perpetual.
  
  It won't offer the crazyness of liquid nitrogen but it's very efficient. Only down side is if you ever need to change something on the motherboard it's messy.
• paladin wrote on 2010-08-15 15:19
  Can you even easily obtain liquid nitrogen?
  Let alone handle the stuff
  One mistake and say hello to frostbite
• Cannibal wrote on 2010-08-15 15:24
  According to Google, liquid nitrogen can be bought in hardware and welding supply shops.
• Halfslashed wrote on 2010-08-15 16:05
  Liquid nitrogen is both inconvenient AND expensive.
  
  The only thing is good for is for the world record of an overclock or benchmark, as was achieved by AMD overclockers.
  
  I recommend using water cooling if you want a more stable, irregular cooling system.
• Kueh wrote on 2010-08-16 00:03

  Quote from paladin;125837:

  Can you even easily obtain liquid nitrogen?
  Let alone handle the stuff
  One mistake and say hello to frostbite

  
  
  Liquid Nitrogen beads on the skin and will roll onto the floor. As long as you don't touch the metal it's been in contact with, you'll be fine.